Russia abstained from voting on the UN Security Council resolution on Afghanistan because its authors ignored Moscow's principal concerns, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said on Monday at a Security Council meeting.
"We were forced to abstain from voting on the Security Council resolution on Afghanistan," he said. - "We did it because the authors of the draft ignored our concerns of principle".
According to the diplomat, Russia suggested adding to the UN Security Council resolution on Afghanistan a clause on the negative influence of mass emigration of specialists valuable for the economy and freezing of financial assets. "During the talks, we stressed the unacceptability of the negative consequences of the evacuation of skilled Afghan personnel on the socio-economic situation in Afghanistan. With the brain drain, the country will not be able to achieve sustainable development goals. These important elements for the Afghan people themselves were not covered in the text," he said.
Nebenzya also said that the authors didn't take into consideration Russia's proposal to note in the resolution the negative influence of freezing of the country's financial assets on the situation in Afghanistan, and also condemn the terrorist groups Islamic State and East Turkestan Islamic Movement (both banned in the Russian Federation). At the same time, the text of the resolution contains condemnation of the group Islamic State in Khorasan (an offshoot of the Islamic State).
Nebenzya also expressed bewilderment that the resolution had to be adopted so quickly. "At the same time, we see this as an attempt to shift the responsibility for the failure of the 20-year presence of the United States and its allies in Afghanistan to the Taliban movement, as well as the countries of the region that will have to deal with the consequences of this long campaign," he added.
The Russian permanent representative stressed that Russia would continue to support the Afghans. "For its part, Russia consistently stands for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan, from whose territory terrorist and narcotic threats will not emanate. We will continue helping Afghans to achieve this goal," he pointed out.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Zuma \ TASS
Based on materials from TASS